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The X Factor UK (Series 13)
Series 13 of The X Factor premiered on 27 August 2016. Dermot O'Leary, who had presented the main show on ITV for eight series returned to host the main show following the departures of Olly Murs and Caroline Flack. Spin-off show The Xtra Factor is presented by former contestant Rylan Clark-Neal and Matt Edmondson and will be broadcast live. The judging line up consists of previous season judge Simon Cowell and sees the return of Nicole Scherzinger, Sharon Osbourne and Louis Walsh. The latter is the only judge to have been present for all but one series of the show to date. Mel B filled in for Nicole Scherzinger at the London auditions due to prior commitments made by Scherzinger. Production Simon Cowell is the only judge to return from the previous year while Cheryl, Nick Grimshaw and Rita Ora have departed to be replaced by returning judges Nicole Scherzinger, Sharon Osbourne and Louis Walsh. Rochelle Humes and Melvin Odoom departed as the presenters of The Xtra Factor to be replaced by former contestant Rylan Clark-Neal and returning presenter Matt Edmondson. After announcing his departure before the 2015 series, Dermot O'Leary returned as presenter of the main show. Twists/Changes Arena Auditions: These were completely scrapped in favour of a return to the room auditions. Age Limit: The minimum age is 16 years old. Bootcamp: The auditionees who reach this stage are faced with a wall of songs and have to fight it out with each other over which song to perform. Afterwards, the judges discovered which categories they would mentor. Six Chair Challenge: The Six Chair Challenge was implemented once again. It took place from 9 to 12 July, at The SSE Arena, Wembley. Judges' Houses: Filming for judges' houses took place in late August/early September. Wildcards: ''' On 21 September 2016, it was revealed that there would be a new wildcard twist. The Girls Wildcard was nominated by Louis, the Overs Wildcard was nominated by Nicole, the Groups Wildcard was nominated by Sharon and Simon nominated the Boys Wildcard, making it 7 acts in each category and 28 in total through to Judges' Houses. '''Lifeline Vote: As the live shows got under way, a lifeline vote was introduced to save one act who landed in the Bottom 3. Voting was done via the mobile app but on 12 November it was announced that this would be scrapped with the two acts who received the lowest amount of votes facing the sing off. Finalists Selection process Auditions See: List of The X Factor auditionees (series 13) The format saw the return of the room auditions with the arena auditions being scrapped. Notable returning auditionees included: Caitlyn Vanbeck, who was eliminated during the Six Chair Challenge in Series 12; Rebekah Ryan, who reached the final 12 in the Over 25s category in Series 4; Emily Middlemass, who was eliminated at Judges' Houses in Series 11; Janet Grogan, who was eliminated during the Six Chair Challenge in Series 11; Relley C, who reached Judges Houses in Series 10; and Gifty Louise, who made it to bootcamp in Series 12; Ottavio Columbro made it as far as bootcamp in Series 9; Janet Grogan auditioned during Series 11 but was eliminated at the Six Chair Challenge; Niall Sexton reached bootcamp in Series 8; Eddie Lee reached Bootcamp in Series 5; The Brooks, who reached Judges' Houses in Series 11; Aeron Smith, who reached Bootcamp in Series 12, and Faye Horne, who reached Bootcamp in Series 8; Samantha Atkinson who reached Bootcamp in Series 12 and Skarl3t who reached the Six Chair Challenge, as 'PYT' in Series 12. Bootcamp See: Bootcamp (series 13) A total of 121 acts made it through to Bootcamp. In a change to previous years, a 'Wall of Songs' was set up and the acts had to run to it and grab a piece of paper bearing a song title, which they would then perform in front of the judges once divided into groups. After performing several acts were eliminated, leaving just 60 acts to find out who their mentor would be before they faced the Six Chair Challenge. Simon Cowell was given the Girls, Nicole Scherzinger was given the Boys, Sharon Osbourne was given the Over 25s and Louis Walsh was given the Groups. Six Chair Challenge See: Six Chair Challenge (series 13) The Six Chair Challenge took place from July 9 to 12 at the SSE Arena, Wembley. A total of 15 acts from each category performed in front of the judges and live audience before being narrowed down: * Although Ivy Grace Paredes made it to Judges' Houses, she was forced to withdraw from the competition due to visa issues. Her replacement was announced on The Xtra Factor as Honey G who was originally eliminated during the Six Chair Challenge. Judges' Houses See: Judges' Houses (series 13) In mid-September it was confirmed that each judge would choose a wildcard for another judge. Walsh chose the Girls wildcard, Scherzinger chose the Overs wildcard, Osbourne selected the Groups wildcard and Cowell chose a wildcard for the Boys category, meaning 28 contestants would go to judges' houses. Live Shows Results Summary Ratings Criticism and controversies Brooks Way withdrawal Just hours before the first live show, duo Brooks Way, consisting of twin brothers Kyle and Josh Brooks, were suspended from the competition, over allegations that Josh had been violent with his ex-girlfriend Amelia Clark, allegedly breaking her nose and kicking her in the face during a New Year Eve party earlier in the year. It was reported throughout the weekend that Josh was regularly beating up Kyle. Kyle and Clark came to Josh's defense, saying respectively that the allegations were false and that they were written by a friend and fan who chose to exploit from the show. During the broadcast, presenter Dermot O'Leary acknowledged the brothers absence stating that it is due to "circumstances that have arisen". The following Monday, they released a statement saying that they were withdrawing from the competition, from "mutual consent" with the producers, whilst denying the "false allegations" and saying that "truth always wins". They were replaced by girl group, 4 Of Diamonds. Claims of fixing The show's producers were forced to deny that the competition was fixed when a nightclub, Kittys & Kandy, in Kirkcaldy, posted on Facebook that Honey G would be performing there on 10 December 2016, the same night as the show's final. The post was deleted and the venue said they had secured the date in case Honey G was eliminated before that date, but a spokesperson for the show said, "This story is not true and there is no foundation to any fix claims. The club was mistaken in their post that she would be there on 10 December and the post has since been removed. Several viewers suspected that the jukebox wheel was rigged after it selected "Fright Night" for the theme for week 4, two days before Halloween. O'Leary insisted the wheel was not rigged, calling it "the most rudimentary hamster wheel you've ever seen in your life". Scherzinger also said she thought it was not fixed because, "I can't pick my songs until we know what theme we're doing—and the producers aren't picking anything as well." Contestant Middlemas said of the wheel: "It's not computerised, it's an old-fashioned wheel. We can see it at the side and there's no-one else around apart from Dermot O'Leary pulling the wheel. We do it at rehearsals and it lands on something different each time. All of the producers knew people would say it was fixed. But we know how it works". The show was hit by another fixing claim during the Week 5 results show when viewers found themselves unable to vote via the mobile app to save one of the acts in the Bottom 3. However, the problem was not addressed by Dermot O'Leary who announced that Sam Lavery was safe. Voting At the start of the third live show, O'Leary announced that the voting lines were open for all contestants before they had performed, instead of after they performed as it had been in the first two live shows. Isobel Mohan from The Daily Telegraph claimed this was unfair and gave an advantage to those performing first and turned it into a popularity contest instead of a talent show. As the live shows got under way, a lifeline vote was introduced to save one act who landed in the Bottom 3. Voting was done via the mobile app but on November 6 several viewers complained on Twitter after the app crashed. On 12 November it was announced that it would be scrapped with the two acts who received the lowest amount of votes facing the sing off. Gifty Louise During the third live results show, when O'Leary was announced who was through to the fourth week, Gifty Louise was heard swearing " off screen as fellow contestant Sam Lavery was announced as the first act safe. A spokesperson said: "We've had five complaints about this. We will assess these complaints before deciding whether to investigate or not," Category:The X Factor (UK) Category:Series 13